Within hours of Venugopal's arrival, speculation was rife that several office bearers and district presidents, who he met with, have aired their contentions against Siddaramaiah and the KPCC president and Home Minister G Parameshwara.
There were strong rumours that Siddaramaiah's leadership was contended, with demands of facing the upcoming elections under a collective leadership. The Siddaramaiah camp however is not unruffled by this development within the party itself.
Party insiders said that there was no way of changing the high command's decision at this juncture, especially after Siddaramaiah proved his mettle during the recently concluded Gundlupet and Nanjangud by polls.
Hailing him as the "undisputed" backward classes leader, the Siddaramaiah camp said that there was a section which was "engineering" these rumours, desperately hoping to dent the Kuruba leader's prospects.
Venugopal himself had a few good words for Siddaramaiah. "Siddaramaiah is a dynamic leader. His government has been offering good governance," he added. Like in case of Siddaramaiah, there were also rumours about complaints against Parameshwara before the team.
A large section of the party leaders are unhappy with the party having continued Parameshwara as the KPCC chief, and for also having given him the dual responsibility of holding a cabinet portfolio.
Countering his detractors, Parameshwara on Monday said that he was discharging dual responsibilities, only because his political bosses thought him to be a capable leader. He also said that he would like to continue for the second term, if the party gives him an opportunity.
Parameshwara, a Dalit leader, has been serving as the KPCC chief for over six years, The party has not made any attempts to replace him so far, which has become a bone of contention among other leaders.
Venugopal will be in Bengaluru for the next three days. He will meet with legislators, ministers, MPs, Siddaramaiah and Parameshwara during the course of the next two days.
Venugopal is assisted by four secretaries - Manickam Tagore (Tamil Nadu), P C Vishnunadh (Kerala), Madhu Yakshi Goud (Hyderabad), Sake Sailajanath (Andhra Pradesh).